Many consumers purchase hot beverages from vending machines. These vending machines often contain a variety of coffee and chocolate drinks as well as other hot drinks. Often, specialty drinks such as lattes, cappuccinos or espressos are served in the vending machines.
Some prior art vending machines mix a dry beverage mix and hot water in a cup located in a general receiving area by adding the hot water to the dry mix and allowing the agitation from the pouring action of the hot fluid to dissolve the mixture into the fluid. While this usually dissolves simple soluble mixes, the pouring action is insufficient to thoroughly dissolve a more complex mix, thereby leaving a residue of mix at the bottom of the cup. Additionally, this method does not provide for a frothing action to produce a creme that is common to such drinks as lattes, cappuccinos or espressos.
Other prior art vending machines mix the dry beverage mix and the hot water within the vending machine. These machines provide some sort of mixing chamber in the vending machine to aid in ensuring that the mix is properly dissolved into solution. However, these previous mixing apparatuses have been unable to provide a sufficient froth that might compare to such beverages obtained from a conventional coffee vending merchant. Specifically, the prior art used a smooth mixing chamber and a stirring mechanism such as an impeller to stir the mix. However, this method also failed to provide the agitation sufficient to produce a suitable froth or creme.
In some of these beverage dispensing machines, the dry beverage mix is held within a product container or canister. Traditionally, such a dry mix product container used to dispense dry mixes or products, such as coffee, premix (e.g., chocolate, cappuccino, French vanilla, or other dry products) utilizes a single mixing wheel agitator to keep the product loose and lifted. However, in such containers, the product gram throw is not consistent as the level of product in the product container is reduced.
Prior art vending machines are typically designed to operate within a specific input operating voltage (or range). The two most common input voltages are 120 VAC and 230 VAC. In most cases, this does not present a problem, however when the vending machine requires hot water and utilizes a hot water tank therein, problems arise. Notably, the vending machine must be manufactured with a hot water heater element operable for the desired input voltage. Thus, in these cases, two fairly different machines are manufactured under different model or part numbers. This disadvantageously only allows a given vending machine to be utilized for a specific input voltage. As a result, multiple models of the same machine are manufactured for each input voltage range, and when manufactured to one input voltage, additional extensive modifications are usually necessary to convert the vending machine to utilize another input voltage.
When different cup sizes are available for dispensing of beverages from a beverage vending apparatus, prior art selection processes and user interfaces have generally required that the customer input the desired size of the cup. This complicates the customer selection process and can cause and additional problems when a customer inputs one size of cup to the vending apparatus, but places a smaller size cup in the receiving area (overflow and spillage). Furthermore, if multiple cup sizes are desired, this requires additional input means, such as additional user interface buttons and logic.
Accordingly, there are needed improved methods, systems and apparatus for mixing a dry product mix and liquid within a vending machine or beverage dispenser to produce a mixed liquid having an improved and suitable froth or creme. Also, there is needed an improved dry product container and dispensing method for dispensing the dry product that increases product gram throw consistency during dispensing. Additional manufacturing efficiencies and vending machines are needed to allow a particular vending machine to operate using one of multiple common input operating voltages with little or no modification necessary when a particular one of the input voltages will be used. Further, there is needed a customer selection process, method and vending apparatus that automatically detects a size of a cup desired to receive the dispensed beverage for simplifying the selection process and reducing potential problems associated with manual customer inputting of a cup size to the vending apparatus.